Multispindle double twist twisting machine

ABSTRACT

A multispindle double twist twisting machine having twisting spindles arranged in rows on either side of an elongated, vertically positioned drive housing which substantially encloses the driven elements of the twisting spindles and contains drive means to rotate said spindles, preferably including a tensioned belt entrained over rollers on a common drive shaft, the spindles extending substantially horizontally outwardly from the housing and associated with a corresponding number of winding means arranged in similar rows above or below the spindles with a preliminary drawoff means including a common rotatable shaft which is preferably located at about the same level as the row of winding means furthest removed from the spindles. The enclosed drive housing for the spindles is advantageously of soundproof construction with means for circulating cooling air therethrough, thereby providing a compact, efficient and more quietly operated two-sided double twist twisting machine.

United States Patent Rehn Feb. 15, 1972 [54] MULTISPINDLE DOUBLE TWIST 3,429,113 2/1969 Nimtz et al.... ..57/34 R TWISTING MACHINE 3,478,504 11/1969 Nimtz et a1 ..57/62 x lnventor: Karl-Heinz Rehn, Remscheid, Germany Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, Wuppertal, Germany Filed: June 11, 1970 Appl. No.: 45,285

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data .lune i3, 1969 Germany ..P 19 30 207.9

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1958 Comer ..57/104 1/1963 Latus ..57/1 R 4/1968 Bures et a1. .57/104 X 5/1968 Rajnoha et al. ..57/1 R Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Altomey.l0hnston, Root, OKeetfe, Keil, Thompson & Shurtlefi' [57] ABSTRACT A multispindle double twist twisting machine having twisting spindles arranged in rows on either side of an elongated, vertically positioned drive housing which substantially encloses the driven elements of the twisting spindles and contains drive means to rotate said spindles, preferably including a tensioned belt entrained over rollers on a common drive shaft, the spindles extending substantially horizontally outwardly from the housing and associated with a corresponding number of winding means arranged in similar rows above or below the spindles with a preliminary drawofi means including a common rotatable shaft which is preferably located at about the same level as the row of winding means furthest removed from the spindles. The enclosed drive housing for the spindles is advantageously of soundproof construction with means for circulating cooling air therethrough, thereby providing a compact, efficient and more quietly operated two-sided double twist twisting machine.

20 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEBFEB15 I972 3.641.757

SHEET 1 BF 2 Ilia.

S 'HEINZ REHN ATT'YS' PATENTEUFEBISMZ 3.641.757

SHEET 2 OF 2 EXHAUST KARL-HEINZ REHN 11y QM/. 12 [20174, 0/Q% an 44 ATT'YS MULTISPINDLE DOUBLE TWIST TWISTING MACHINE Double twist twisting machines are generally known and have been constructed in various forms in order to provide a large number of twisting spindles on a machine frame together with individual winding units or takeup spools to receive thread from the spindles. German Utility Pat. No. 1,900,926 discloses one particular two-sided double twist twisting machine containing a large number of twisting spindles mounted along the entire length of a spindle rail or supporting means in the form of two rows in staggered relationship one over the other and having a corresponding number of winding units or takeup spools arranged above the double twist twisting spindles. This arrangement provided a certain improvement over the more common double twist twisting machine having only a single row of twisting spindles on either side of the machine. However, in order to provide two rows of spindles, one over the other, the axes of rotation of the spindles are arranged in a vertical position or a position slightly inclined to the vertical. A machine of this type still presents appreciable problems in its operation.

For example, the arrangement of the twisting spindles in vertical or substantially vertical positions has the serious disadvantage that it requires a very tall supporting structure for the spindles and winding units, and this in turn requires the use of auxiliary devices in order to reach the upper parts or members of the machine. Another serious drawback of this multispindle machine construction resides in the fact that the drive means for the spindles with a large number of deflection rollers is accompanied by an extraordinarily severe development of noise even when limited to a single continuous drive belt operating all of the spindles in a machine unit. This noise level is so high as to constitute a serious hazard to the health and safety of operating personnel, any commercial installation causing a noise level far above valves which should normally be observed in any human environment. Furthermore, this known construction of two rows of twisting spindles on each side of the machine makes it quite complicated to change a continuous drive belt since it is not only necessary to separate the common drive shaft but also to release a part of the shaft bearings in order to bring a particular belt into its operating position. Other disadvantages also arise with this known machine including poor serviceability, complicated threading from the twisting spindles to the winding units and the like. Therefore, in spite of the economy of space offered by such a double row of twisting spindles, a single row of spindles continued to be preferred by those skilled in this art because of its operating advantages including maintenance and exchange of drive belts, spools ad other interchangeable elements, so that multirow double twist twisting machines have not become commercially acceptable.

One object of the present invention is to provide a two-sided double twist twisting machine which does have an increased capacity with respect to its space requirement, i.e., with a large number of spindles arranged in rows on each side of the machine. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a multispindle twisting machine which is easily maintained and operated and which has a relatively low structural height so that even a worker of medium height will find it possible to work on the entire machine without using auxiliary devices such as platforms, ladders, special elongated tools or the like. Another object of the invention is to provide a multispindle double twist twisting machine whereby the development of noise can be considerably reduced. Still another object of the invention is to provide a common spindle drive shaft and/or other rotatable common shafts in conjunction with the drawoff means and winding means for individual threads so that a large number of individual twisting and winding units can be operated from a common drive means while still permitting individual groups of spindles to be easily removed from operation when interchanging feed spools and wound bobbins. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention.

It has now been found, in accordance with the invention, that the foregoing objects can be essentially achieved in a multispindle double twist twisting machine which comprises an elongated, vertically positioned and substantially enclosed drive housing; a plurality of rotatable twisting spindles arranged in rows along the length of said housing on either side of a longitudinal vertical plane through the center of said housing, the driven elements of said twisting spindles being contained within said housing and said spindles extending substantially horizontally outwardly from said housing; drive means located within said housing for operable engagement with the driven elements of said spindles; winding means as sociated with each twisting spindle for taking up thread therefrom and mounted above or below each spindle in rows of substantially the same length as said spindle rows; and preliminary drawoff means including a common rotatable shaft on either side of said housing for transporting thread from each twisting spindle to its associated winding means. The twisting spindles are preferably arranged in a number of rows on each side of the machine, it being most convenient to provide two superimposed rows of the spindles with the spindles of one row being staggered to occupy vertical planes separate from the spindles of the adjacent row on the same side of the machine. It is essential, however, for the axes of the rotatable twisting spindles to extend substantially horizontally through the drive housing to the machine so that the driven elements of the spindles including their bearings are contained within the enclosed drive housing. For each common drive box, it has been found most convenient to rotatably mount about 16 to 48 and preferably 24 to 40 twisting spindles on both sides of the machine, and it is also preferable to provide an individual continuous drive belt for each group of four oppositely disposed twisting spindles, i.e., the adjacent upper and lower spindles of the two rows on each side of the machine. This permits a single continuous belt to be entrained over the drive elements of each four individual spindles around one belt-engaging roller on the common drive shaft for said spindles and around one tensioning roller which is preferably mounted within the housing on a swingable axis of rotation with means to resiliently urge the tensioning roller into driven contact with the continuous belt.

These and other specific or preferred embodiments of the double twist twisting machine of the invention are described in greater detail hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly schematic cross-sectional view taken transversely on a vertical plane through the elongated drive housing containing two rows of double twist twisting spindles on either side of the machine, the lower supporting structure or framework and certain other elements being omitted;

FIG. 2 is a partly schematic side elevational view of one unit of the elongated multispindle double twist twisting machine of FIG. 1, including a fragmentary portion of adjacent units which can be mounted end to end to form a large bank of twosided double twist twisting units;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the drive housing in cross section along a vertical plane passing through the common drive shaft for the rotatably mounted spindles on the side of the machine, particularly to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the drive means including a number of continuous belts associated with two spindles on each side of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a single continuous belt drive capable of being engaged or disengaged by a swingable or tiltable tensioning roller pivotally mounted between the two sides of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of one upper corner of the drive housing of the machine to illustrate a sound-proof or sound-absorbing lining together with the position of one observation mirror; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of three interconnected or adjoining multispindle double twist twisting units with means for blowing cooling air through the spindle drive housings of all three units, the position of all individual twisting spindles and corresponding winding means being omitted but being essentially identical to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a single multiple spindle double twist twisting unit or machine which is constructed on the principle of a building-block so as to contain 16 spindles mounted in two rows on each side of the machine unit in the embodiment shown in the drawing. Each building-block or multispindle unit essentially includes a basesupported framework including an upper drive housing 1 provided with an upper cover or lid 2 which is adapted to be easily removed or pivotally hinged to open along the flanges 3 extending longitudinally near the upper end of the housing 1. This provides ready access to the drive means contained within the housing, and if desired, each unit can have a plurality of adjoining lids or covers 2 to be separately opened above individually driven groups of spindles. Also, vertical partitions can be provided between individual positions of drive belts as a safety factor. Such individual variations have not been shown since they can be readily visualized in the existing structure.

The supporting structure for each multispindle twisting unit also includes a lower framework 4 to receive the winding or takeup means for the twisted thread as well as associated guide rollers, transporting rollers and the like (see FIG. 2). A small fragment of each adjoining multispindle double twist twisting unit is also shown in FIG. 2 with the corresponding drive housing la and lb as well as the lower supporting frames 4a and 4b. Three such units are more generally shown in a complete side elevational view in FIG. b. If desired, the lower supporting framework 4 can also be partially enclosed by a housing but this is generally unnecessary since the winding means and the transporting or guiding rollers for the thread usually operate at a much lower noise level than do the twisting spindles.

Each drive housing 1 is a substantially rectangular boxlike structure enclosed on all sides including the cover 2. An upper and lower row of double twist twisting spindles 5 and 6 are rotatably mounted in staggered positions along the length of the housing 1 on either side thereof so as to extend horizontally or substantially perpendicularly to a vertical plane extending longitudinally through the center of the housing. The driven elements including the rotatable spindle shafts 7 and 8 as well as the bearing means 9 and 10 are contained completely within the housing 1 which is preferably of sound-proof or sound-absorbing construction. Each spindle is adapted to receive a feed spool or bobbin package 11 and 12 in the conventional manner of double twist twisting spindles. The staggered arrangement of the spindles 5 and 6 in two rows on each side of the machine permits the closest possible packing or distribution of the feed spools l1 and 12 and represents a substantial saving in space with reference to the total capacity of an individual multispindle unit. The threads T being drawn from each feed spool 11 and 12 are drawn outwardly through the extended spindle guides 13 and 14 which are likewise supported horizontally along the spindles axis. After first passing around a preliminary drawoff means, the threads are eventually taken up or wound on a plurality of windingor takeup spools 15 and 16, corresponding in number of the twisting spindles S and 6 and preferably arranged below or underneath these twisting spindles in a corresponding number of rows and in corresponding staggered positions. These takeup spools can be rotatably mounted on a common shaft 15' and 16' in each row, this common shaft or separate individual shafts for each takeup spool being supported on the framework 4 in any conventional manner. Each individual takeup spool 15 or 16 is preferably rotated by frictional engagement with a corresponding drive roller 17 and 18 which can be easily driven through a common drive shaft 17' and 18', respectively. A traversing mechanism or other auxiliary elements may also be associated with each of the takeup spools 15, 16 and their as sociated drive rollers 17, 18 in order to distribute the thread back and forth around the circumference of the takeup spools as is quite conventional in this art. Such traversing mechanisms or similar elements require relatively little space so that the individual winding means can be spaced quite closely together on axes of rotation which preferably extend parallel to the longitudinal vertical plane of the double twist twisting machine. This arrangement also permits the winding means to be positioned either above or below the twisting spindles and completely within their outermost horizontal extension such that the maximum width of the machine is dependent solely upon the horizontal extension of the spindles.

The two rows of twisting spindles 5 and 6 are most advantageously located on the uppermost or top level of the double twist twisting machine so that the drive housing I is supported on top of the framework 4 and the winding means or takeup spools 15 and 16 being located underneath or directly below the spindles 5 and 6. On the other hand, it is also feasible to mount the drive housing 1 and its spindles 5 and 6 on the lower level of the double twist twisting machine with the winding means including takeup spools 15 and 16 mounted directly above the housing 1 on the connected framework 4. This arrangement would substantially correspond to an inversion of FIGS. 1 and 2 although it would still be preferable to maintain the cover 2 on the top side of the drive housing I. In principle, both arrangements are equally satisfactory but the initial threading of the machine, interchanging of bobbins or spools and access to the drive means in the housing 1 are much more convenient in the illustrated embodiment, i.e., with the winding means below the twisting spindles.

In all cases, the individual groups or rows of winding means, i.e., corresponding to takeup spools l5 and 16, must be spaced along the housing so that the length of the entire group of winding units corresponds to the length of the same number of twisting spindles so as to fall within the confines of the total length of an individual drive housing 1 and its associated framework 4. Otherwise, it would not be possible to interconnect a plurality of individual double twist twisting machine units in a compact end to end relationship as shown in FIG. 6. For purposes of construction, it is most convenient to align each winding or takeup spool 15 or 16 as the primary winding means directly below its associated twisting spindle 5 or 6 such that the vertical plane through the axis of the twisting spindle extends transversely the axis of the winding means at about its midsection, This assures that there will be no interference with the threads T as they are wound with a traversing movements on the spools 15 or 16 with reference to the adjoining spindles and winding means. If it appears expedient, the individual winding units or means can also be subdivided into smaller groups so as to be individually rotated by a smaller group of drive rollers 17 or 18, provided however that the total number of winding means should correspond to the number of twisting spindles and the composite length of the winding units should correspond approximately to the length of the drive housing 1 containing the complete group of spindles.

According to the invention, there is preferably arranged on each side of thedouble twist twisting machine only a single common rotatable shaft 19 or 20 in order to operate a preliminary drawoff means. Such a common shaft is positioned in such a manner that the servicing or maintenance of the rows of winding means further removed from the drive housing I and spindles 5 and 6 is as convenient as possibfe. In the preferred embodiment of the drawings, this common drawoff shaft 19 or 20 is thus preferably located at about the level or somewhat below the lowest row of winding means or somewhat above the uppermost row of winding means, depending upon whether these winding means are arranged below or above the twisting spindles 5 and 6. This preliminary drawoff means is also preferably located almost directly below or slightly inside of the spindle guides 13 and 14 so that the transported thread T is directed in a substantially vertical path between the spindles and the preliminary drawoff means.

In FIG. of the drawings, two different constructions of the preliminary drawoff means are illustrated on the opposite sides of the double twist twisting machine. On the left side of FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional drawoff shaft 19 below the lower winding means 16, 18 wherein the individual delivery rollers or so-called lead rollers 21 are seated directly on the rotatable shaft 19. Two deflection rollers 22 are required in this instance to provide a sufficiently large encircling angle of the thread around the roller 21, i.e., so that the thread is maintained sufficiently in driven contact with this roller to ensure a steady delivery to the winding means.

On the right side of FIG. 1, the construction of the delivery or lead roller permits a large encircling angle of the thread therearound without the use of deflection rollers. In this instance, the delivery roller 23 is seated directly above a continuous or common drive shaft which is equipped with frictionally engaged drive wheels 24 or similar drive gears, belts or the like. These delivery rollers 23 can be individually secured to a short shaft 25 (as shown in FIG. 2) with the delivery roller 23 and a driven wheel or gear 26 at either end of the short shaft 25 so that each thread delivery roller 23 is operated by an individual driving wheel or gear 24. On the other hand, a somewhat longer shaft 25', corresponding in length approximately to the spacing between the two double twist twisting spindles arranged obliquely one over the other, can carry on each end a preliminary drawoff or delivery roller 23 while carrying the driven wheel or gear 26 therebetween for operable engagement with a single drive wheel or gear 24 on the common drive shaft 20. Suitable bearing means can be provided to support all of the driving or driven shafts in a conventional manner on the supporting framework 4. Also, conventional motors or the like are employed for driving individual shafts throughout the construction ofthe multispindle double twist twisting machine of the invention. Such motors have not been illustrated since they are employed in a generally known manner and can be in the form of conventional variable speed motors in order to properly adjust the twisting and winding rate of the individual threads.

The preliminary drawoff means shown the right side of FIG. 1 has certain advantages in terms of its low cost of construction and the ease by which threads can be engaged on the delivery or lead rollers 23. The provision of two delivery rollers 23 on one shaft 25' as shown on the right-hand side of FIG, 2 has the advantage of low cost. On the other hand, the first-described arrangement in which each delivery roller 23 is individually secured and driven on a short shaft 25 as shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 2 has the advantage ofa so-called "unidirectional thread application process. This means that when reloading the machine, which as experience has shown must be carried out very rapidly, it is not necessary to grip around or embrace the delivery rollers 23 when laying the individual threads T onto these rollers. Such special application is required with the double-mounted rollers 23 on shaft 25 as shown on the right hand side of FIG. 2. However, where two adjacent spindles and winding means with their threads on such adjacent double-rollers complete a thread twisting and winding operation at approximately the same time, this latter arrangement can be equally convenient. Also, it is feasible to pivotally mount the rollers 23 on shafts 25 or 25' together with the driven wheel or gear 26 or 26 so that they can be individually disengaged from the associated driving wheel or gear 24 while the remaining driving wheels or gears remain operably engaged and driven by the shaft 20. Such pivotal mounting on the framework 4 can be accomplished in a conventional manner and therefore is not illustrated.

As the individual threads T travel in a path between the preliminary drawoff means as represented by shafts 19 or 20, they can be directed individually into each winding unit by suitable deflection or guide rollers 27 and 28 (as shown in FIG. 1). Also, a single set of rotatable preparation rollers 29 can be arranged on each side of the machine for tangential contact with the path of the threads as they are conducted from the preliminary drawoff means to the deflection or guide rollers 27, 28, these preparation rollers 29 being of conventional construction and adapted to rotate in a tray or container 30 of a liquid preparation or finishing agent such as lubricants or the like. Various arrangements of such deflection or guide rollers 27,28 as well as preparation rollers 29 are possible within the scope of the invention, but it is again desirable for the axes of rotation of such rollers to be arranged substantially parallel to the vertical plane passing longitudinally through the center of the drive housing 1. Such an arrangement permits the collective path of all of the threads to be contained substantially within a common plane or planes so as to achieve a very uniform and symmetrical arrangement of all of the individual moving parts. With a traversing movement of the individual threads as they are wound up on the spools 15 or 16, it will be recognized that the deflecting rollers 27,28 as well as the preparation rollers 29 must be sufficiently elongated in order to constantly remain in contact with the thread T.

In an especially preferred embodiment of the double twist twisting machine according to the invention, the individual twisting spindles 5, 6 are driven by means of a continuous or common drive shaft 31 as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The drive means for the spindles preferably includes a number of individual continuous drive belts 32 which are entrained over and set in motion by a corresponding number of belt-engaging rollers or pulleys 33 secured at intervals along the continuous shaft 31. The drive means also includes the spindle shaft or whorls 7 and 8 with the continuous drive belt 32 entrained over a number of these driven elements of the spindles, preferably so as to drive two spindles on each side of the machine, e.g., one oppositely disposed pair of spindles in the upper rows and one oppositely disposed pair of spindles obliquely adjacent thereto in the next adjacent row. Finally, the continuous belt drive is preferably entrained over a tensioning roller or pulley 34 located above the common drive shaft 31. This tensioning roller 34 is preferably seated on a swinging or pivoted bridge member 35 which can be resiliently urged into position so as to increase the belt tension. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this bridge 35 can be spring-loaded by means of the springs 36 with screw means 37 for adjusting the tension exerted on the bridge. While such spring-loading is preferred, it is also feasible to load the bridge 35 with a weight or any other conventional means to swing the tensioning roller 34 into positive engagement under a predetermined tension with the belt drive 32. There is a continuous belt drive 32 and tensioning roller 34 in combination with each shaft roller or pulley 33 and two pairs of upper and lower spindle driven elements 7 and 8, although only one such arrangement has been illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. A single drive belt can be used to operate more than four such adjacent and paired spindles, but the illustrated embodiment permits a small group of spindles to be disengaged at any time during operation of the machine.

Thus, with this arrangement of the belt drive 32, it is possible to easily change individual belts at any time by opening the cover 2 of the drive housing 1. In order to disengage the belt, it is merely necessary to swing the bridge 35 with the tensioning roller 34 in the direction of the arrow so as to compress the spring 36, or else the spring can be completely released or a loaded weight removed in order to achieve the same swinging or tilting action of the bridge and tensioning roller. The belt 32 is then completely loosened or disengaged and can be easily lifted out of the machine and replaced by a new belt.

In principle, the double twist twisting spindles 5 and 6 can be driven in any conventional manner, for example by means by of tangential belts running through the entire machine or by individual spindle drives or the like. However, by using the driven elements of the spindles coupled over individual drive belts to a common drive shaft 31, as described above, an especially successful drive means is provided since it is uncomplicated in its construction and is substantially insensitive to various disturbances.

The fragmentary perspective view of the drive means in FIG. 4 clearly illustrates the manner in which the continuous drive belt 32 can be engaged or disengaged by the swingable tensioning roller or pulley 34. It will also be noted that only four spindles are placed out of operation during the disengagement of the tensioning roller 34, so that all of the remaining spindles in each machine unit or adjoining machine units can continue to operate while exchanging an individual drive belt or during a temporary shutdown of one small group of spindles and associated winding means. It is not necessary to disassemble individual shafts or to remove any of the individual parts of the machine when exchanging drive belts.

ln the foregoing specification and the accompanying claims, the term "drive means" with reference to the spindles is intended to include not only the drive shaft 31 with its drive pulleys 33 and drive belt 32, but also the driven elements of the individual spindles and 6 such as the spindle shafts or whorls 7 and 8 as well as bearing means 9 and 10 mounted on the interior of the housing 1. The belt tensioning means such as the roller or pulley 34 should also be included within the drive means. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that a number of such individual elements may be included within the total drive means contained within the housing 1.

As shown in the fragmentary cross-sectional view of FIG. 5, the enclosed housing 1 with its cover 2 can be constructed of an outer metal casing 38 having an inner lining 39 composed of a sound-absorbing or sound-proofing material of any conventional type, e.g., various cellular or porous liners such as those composed of elastomeric polymers, textile materials or the like. This provides a very substantial reduction in the noise level of the machine during its operation. Without completely enclosing the drive means within this housing 1, such a reduction in the noise level would not be possible.

Referring again to FlG. l of the drawings, the double twist twisting machine of the invention preferably includes on each side of the machine at least one spindle covering member 40 which is preferably removably interconnected to the housing 1 so as to extend outwardly therefrom and at least partially enclose the spindles 5, 6 protruding horizontally from the sides of the housing. The outwardly facing side of this cover 40 covers substantially the entire side of the housing 1 except for circular openings about equal in diameter to individual pots or cylindrical casings 41 which surround the individual twisting spindles 5,6. Such pots 41 are conventionally employed on double twist twisting spindles and are preferably unslotted or have a substantially smooth cylindrical surface around the spindle supported spools or bobbins l1, 12. However, at the rear portion of these covers 40 adjacent the housing 1, it is convenient to provide openings 42 whereby it is possible by means of mirrors 43 and 44 to observe the rear portions of the spindles. The operation of the double twist twisting spindles can then be fully observed by an operator walking along the length of a large number of machines by viewing them from a normal height. At the same time, the openings 42 permit access to the rear portions of the spindles without otherwise disturbing the machine. The covers 40 can be detachably mounted over an entire group spindles on a single machine unit or in sections over smaller groups of spindles, or the cover 40 may also be hinged in sections so as to be swung away from the spindles.

By providing these covers 40, it is further possible to include between the rows of spindles 5,6 and the associated pots 41 a suitable supporting structure 45 which is necessary for supply lines 46, such as electrical lines, air lines, conduits for supplying preparation or finishing against, and similar conventional items. These lines or conduits are then fully protected against fouling, accidental damage or unintentional interference, and the covers 40 therefore provide a very desirable safety feature as well as a more easily cleaned and maintained machine. At the same time, these side covers offer no difficulty in the conventional operation of the machine and do not interfere with the enclosed structure of the drive housing 1.

In FIG. 6, an arrangement of three individual multispindle double twist twisting units is illustrated in which three adjacent units are adjoined end to end to provide interconnected drive housings 1, la and lb as well as the interconnected supporting frames or panels 4, 4a and 4b. Since the housings 1, la and lb are sound-insulated or sound-proofed, this also has a certain heat-insulating effect. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive buildup of heat within these housings, it is expedient to equip the individual or connected drive housings with means to conduct air therethrough, e.g., a fresh air feed inlet 45 at one end and an exhaust outlet 46 at the other end with airtight openings or ports 47 in the abutting faces of the interconnected housings for the continuous passage or circulation of cooling air as indicated by the arrows in F IG. 6. A suitable fan 48 can be installed in either the inlet or outlet duct 45 or 46, both of which are preferably constructed of a sound insulating material or lined in the same manner as the housings (as shown in FIG. 5) in order to maintain a good sound insulation. These ducts can be extended or provided with baffles or the like to further reduce the noise level inherent in driving the spindles.

It is of course desirable in any commercial installation to interconnect a large number of machine units together in the manner shown in FIG. 6, e.g., with two staggered rows of at least four twisting spindles per row on each side of a single unit. Although it is preferable to operate all of the twisting spindles 5,6 from a common drive shaft 31 extending through all of the adjoined units or by suitable interconnected shaft couplings from unit to unit, it is also feasible to provide a separate drive motor and shaft for each individual unit, depending upon the total load being carried by this primary drive mechanism. The winding means represented by the takeup spools 15,16 and friction drives 17,18 can also be driven from a common shaft but are preferably arranged so that an individual takeup spool can be taken out of operation without disturbing or interrupting other takeup spools, e.g., by a clutch engagement of the friction drives, individually disengageable drive belts or the like. In most instances, it is quite convenient to engage or disengage about four double twist twisting spindles and their corresponding winding means simultaneously, i.e., two such operating positions on each side of the machine as suggested by the illustrated embodiment.

The use ofa single or common drive shaft 19 or 20 on each side of the machine for the preliminary drawoff means is especially desirable and these can be readily coupled in alignment over a large number of interconnected machine units since the individual load carried by each delivery roller 21 or 23 is relatively low. Likewise, the preparation rollers 29 can be aligned on a common axis where the outer circumference of each roller just touches the transported thread T in tangential contact, i.e., without substantially deflecting the thread.

As an alternative embodiment of the invention (not illustrated), one can provide a common drive housing for the driven elements of the twisting spindles on only one side of the machine with a separate drive means for the spindles on each side, e.g., by a vertical partition longitudinally through the middle of the two-sided machine. A drive belt or similar coupling means can then be operatively engaged with two or more spindles on each side within such a bilateral housing. However, such arrangements tend to become much more complicated, and the drive housing is therefore preferably constructed as a U-shaped box 1 with cover 2 encompassing the driven elements of the spindles 5 and 6 on both sides of the housing as illustrated herein.

When constructed in the preferred manner substantially as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, the double twist twisting machine of the invention not only has all of the spacesaving advantages of superimposed and preferably staggered rows of relatively closely spaced twisting spindles, but also has the advantages of a greatly reduced noise level and a very simple and economical operation and maintenance of many machines or units arranged in banks or blocks, e.g., with a minimum of aisle space between adjacent banks.

Aside from the vertical arrangement of the drive housing, the horizontally and laterally protruding spindles and the drive means located within the housing, it will be apparent that there can be a relatively broad variation in the structure and arrangement of other elements including the winding and thread drawoff or transporting means. In particular, however, the invention permits the use of many individually conventional elements such as specific types of double twist twisting spindles, takeup spools and thread conducting, guiding or traversing units, so that such individual elements of the various combinations of this invention are readily available and need not be limited to those specifically illustrated or suggested in the foregoing description or in the drawings.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A multispindle double twist twisting machine which comprises:

an elongated, vertically positioned and substantially enclosed drive housing;

a plurality of rotatable twisting spindles arranged in rows along the length of said housing on either side of a longitudinal vertical plane through the center of said housing, the driven elements of said twisting spindles being contained within said housing and said spindles extending substantially horizontally outwardly from said housing;

drive means located within said housing for operable engagement with the driven elements ofsaid spindles;

winding means associated with each twisting spindle for taking up thread therefrom and mounted above or below each spindle in rows of substantially the same length as said spindle rows; and

preliminary drawoff means including a common rotatable shaft on either side of said housing for transporting thread from each twisting spindle to its associated winding means.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive housing contains 16 to 48 twisting spindles distributed on both sides of the machine.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each winding means is disposed below its associated twisting spindle.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each winding means is adapted to take up thread about a substantially horizontal axis of rotation which is approximately parallel to said vertical plane of the housing and each common shaft of said preliminary drawoff means has its axis of rotation approximately parallel to said vertical plane of the housing.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein two superimposed rows of said spindles are contained on each side of said machine, the spindles of one row being staggered to occupy vertical planes separate from the spindles of the adjacent view.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein each winding means is located below its associated spindle with the vertical plane through the axis of the spindle extending transversely through the axis of the winding means at about its midsection.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said drive housing is constructed with a sound-absorbing material to reduce the noise level of the driven elements of the spindles.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said housing is a metal casing lined with a sound-absorbing material.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said drive housing has a lower or upper elongated side opposite said winding means constructed as a sound-tight cover adapted to be removed for access to said spindle drive means.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a common rotatable drive shaft extending longitudinally through said housing with at least one belt-engaging roller carried thereon for driving a group of individual spindles on both sides of the machine, and a continuous belt entrained over each said roller and the driven elements of the individual spindles of said group.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein said belt is entrained over a tensioning roller mounted within said housing on a tiltable axis of rotation with means to resiliently urge said tensioning roller into driven contact with said belt.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11 containing two superimposed rows of spindles on each side of said housing wherein there are four individual spindles in each group driven by a single continuous belt entrained over the drive elements of said individual spindles around one belt-engaging roller on said drive shaft and around one tensioning roller, said four spindles consisting of two oppositely disposed spindles of one row and the next adjacent two oppositely disposed spindles of the other row.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each side of the machine has at least one spindle covering member removably interconnected to the housing and extending outwardly therefrom to partially enclose the spindles protruding from said housing, each said covering member having an opening adjacent the housing for access to each spindle where the rear portion thereof emerges from the housing.

14. A machine as claimed in claim 13 wherein mirrors are mounted at an angle to the housing near said access openings of said spindle covering member for viewing observation of the rear portion of individual spindles.

15. A machine as claimed in claim 13 wherein each twisting spindle is surrounded by a cylindrical pot interconnected with said housing and at least partially contained within said spindle covering member.

16. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said common rotatable shaft of said preliminary drawoff means is located at about the same height as the row of said winding means furthest removed from the level of said twisting spindles.

17. A machine as claimed in claim 16 wherein said preliminary drawoff means is located at a level such that thread being drawn from each twisting spindle travels in a path extending beyond the associated winding means, around the preliminary drawoff means and back inwardly to said winding means.

18. A machine as claimed in claim 16 wherein pairs of delivery rollers are mounted on short rotatable shafts at spaced distances along the length of the housing and each pair of said delivery rollers is rotatably driven by said common shaft to the preliminary drawoff means.

19. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least two of said drive housings are joined in multiple elongated units in air tight connection with duct means for leading cooling air through all of said housings.

20. A machine as claimed in claim 19 wherein said duct means for supplying fresh cooling air and leading off exhaust air from said housings are constructed with a sound-absorbing material.

gg fi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF GORRECTION Patent No. 3, ,757 Dated February 5, 97

Inven fl Karl -Heinz Rehn It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 50, "b" should read 6 line 69, "and" should read or Column 4, line 44, "movements" should read movement line 72, "3" should read l Column 9, line &2, claim 5, "view" should read row Signed and sealed this 26th day of September 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A multispindle double twist twisting machine which comprises: an elongated, vertically positioned and substantially enclosed drive housing; a plurality of rotatable twisting spindles arranged in rows along the length of said housing on either side of a longitudinal vertical plane through the center of said housing, the driven elements of said twisting spindles being contained within said housing and said spindles extending substantially horizontally outwardly from said housing; drive means located within said housing for operable engagement with the driven elements of said spindles; winding means associated with each twisting spindle for taking up thread therefrom and mounted above or below each spindle in rows of substantially the same length as said spindle rows; and preliminary drawoff means including a common rotatable shaft on either side of said housing for transporting thread from each twisting spindle to its associated winding means.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive housing contains 16 to 48 twisting spindles distributed on both sides of the machine.
 3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each winding means is disposed below its associated twisting spindle.
 4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each winding means is adapted to take up thread about a substantially horizontal axis of rotation which is approximately parallel to said vertical plane of the housing and each common shaft of said preliminary drawoff means has its axis of rotation approximately parallel to said vertical plane of the housing.
 5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein two superimposed rows of said spindles are contained on each side of said machine, the spindles of one row being staggered to occupy vertical planes separate from the spindles of the adjacent view.
 6. A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein each winding means is located below its associated spindle with the vertical plane through the axis of the spindle extending transversely through the axis of the winding means at about its midsection.
 7. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said drive housing is constructed with a sound-absorbing material to reduce the noise level of the driven elements of the spindles.
 8. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said housing is a metal casing lined with a sound-absorbing material.
 9. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said drive housing has a lower or upper elongated side opposite said winding means constructed as a sound-tight cover adapted to be removed for access to said spindle drive means.
 10. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a common rotatable drive shaft extending longitudinally through said housing with at least one belt-engaging roller carried thereon for driving a group of individual spindles on both sides of the machine, and a continuous belt entrained over each said roller and the driven elements of the individual Spindles of said group.
 11. A machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein said belt is entrained over a tensioning roller mounted within said housing on a tiltable axis of rotation with means to resiliently urge said tensioning roller into driven contact with said belt.
 12. A machine as claimed in claim 11 containing two superimposed rows of spindles on each side of said housing wherein there are four individual spindles in each group driven by a single continuous belt entrained over the drive elements of said individual spindles around one belt-engaging roller on said drive shaft and around one tensioning roller, said four spindles consisting of two oppositely disposed spindles of one row and the next adjacent two oppositely disposed spindles of the other row.
 13. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each side of the machine has at least one spindle covering member removably interconnected to the housing and extending outwardly therefrom to partially enclose the spindles protruding from said housing, each said covering member having an opening adjacent the housing for access to each spindle where the rear portion thereof emerges from the housing.
 14. A machine as claimed in claim 13 wherein mirrors are mounted at an angle to the housing near said access openings of said spindle covering member for viewing observation of the rear portion of individual spindles.
 15. A machine as claimed in claim 13 wherein each twisting spindle is surrounded by a cylindrical pot interconnected with said housing and at least partially contained within said spindle covering member.
 16. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said common rotatable shaft of said preliminary drawoff means is located at about the same height as the row of said winding means furthest removed from the level of said twisting spindles.
 17. A machine as claimed in claim 16 wherein said preliminary drawoff means is located at a level such that thread being drawn from each twisting spindle travels in a path extending beyond the associated winding means, around the preliminary drawoff means and back inwardly to said winding means.
 18. A machine as claimed in claim 16 wherein pairs of delivery rollers are mounted on short rotatable shafts at spaced distances along the length of the housing and each pair of said delivery rollers is rotatably driven by said common shaft to the preliminary drawoff means.
 19. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least two of said drive housings are joined in multiple elongated units in air tight connection with duct means for leading cooling air through all of said housings.
 20. A machine as claimed in claim 19 wherein said duct means for supplying fresh cooling air and leading off exhaust air from said housings are constructed with a sound-absorbing material. 